What the actual?! The Bastard Spaniel strikes again.

[SnakeyMcBadass]

Just to keep things interesting, the Bastard Spaniel has started a new, and grim, behaviour. The Poodley Thing will be minding his own business having a poo (so vulnerable), and the spaniel will run over and piss on him. What. The. Fuck. He is marking the crapping poodle. I've seen him do this twice now, so it's quite new. How can I stop this happening? Spaniel is 2.5 years and poodle is 11 months now.

[nuttymutty1]

Just keep him away until Poodley thing has finished his business I am afraid.

This can be a sign of a stressed anxious dog, the need to mark over any strong scents - usually generally bring down the stresses will remove the need for Spaniel to feel such a need.

It could be starting now due to hormonal changes in the other dog so could also just disappear as soon as it starts. However very important to not let Spaniel "practise" the behaviour so on lead until poodle has piddled and pooed.

I expect the Spaniel is also showing other signs of anxiety in his behaviour.

[needastrongone]

nutty - I think it's safe to describe snakey's spaniel as stressed

Can you use a positive interuptor (spelling?) if you see the spaniel about to go and pee on the poodle, or just let them in the garden at different times?

Assume poodle is getting toward adulthood?

[SnakeyMcBadass]

He is an anxious, nervy dog generally. He hates the wind so has been a bit stressy lately. Any tips on how to generally calm him down? He's a high energy dog who is afraid of other dogs/traffic/carrier bags, so his walks can be stressful. He gets a bare minimum of an hour a day of exercise, more usually two. He's on a mixture of skinners duck and rice and raw, and is in good shape.

[needastrongone]

Snakey - Have you seen kikopups 'capturing calm' behaviour videos on Youtube? They are interesting. Click and treat whenever Jasper is displaying calm behaviour.

In addition, can you counter condition? Or do you anyway Sure you do! Have you spoken/worked with an behaviourist?

Could you drive to remote walking spots, where he can forage around in peace, while you are working on him?

I am no expert!

[needastrongone]

Rescue remedy, thunder shirt, adaptil collar?

[nuttymutty1]

Zyklene may be worth a try - shouldn't do any harm.

Adrenalin stays in the dogs body for up to 24 hours after stressful events so with stressy dogs you want to prevent "adrenalin stacking"

eg dog gets in a stressful situation, dog then encounters another stressful situation for him and the stress just build on top of original stress, then a situation that does not usually stress the dog out much makes the dog go over the top as the adrenalin is now bubbling over in his body.

So general rule is to try to prevent the stacking from occurring. So easy to do right !

Generally training, clicker training is great for this as the dog never makes a mistake and is never need worry about making a mistake, drop back on chasing games (probably a dog that is reactive outside is encouraged to chase so that he runs off his energy on his restricted walks but this does mean that his walks are high drive, maybe positive adrenalin rushes but the dog is still highly charged)

Encourage scent games, so instead of chucking the ball, hide it for him to find scent games are knackering for the dog but also very relaxing and brings the adrenalin levels down.

Give him his dark quiet room for a chill out regularly, (is he a shadow chaser?) so even light can again charge him up.

It may not be for you but I would consider changing to raw food nutriment is an easish way to do it - then you can eliminate any additives etc that on a calmer dog may have no effect but could effect an already stressy dog.

There are lots of other strategies but I don't want to bore you if you are already using them.

You should never generalise but if you have a stressy spaniel they are very good at it

[nuttymutty1]

I agree Kiko pup capturing calm is great

Tellington touch can help some dogs - others hate it

[UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea]

No advice sorry, but thank you for making me laugh!

[needastrongone]

nutty - you are really knowledgable, do you work with dogs at all? Your posts are very interesting and informative.

[nuttymutty1]

Why thank you Needastrongone - a bit knowledgeable on dogs. I know nothing on anything that makes money or is otherwise useful!

Yep I am one of the lucky ones that work with dogs

[needastrongone]

DH knows a thing or two about making money thankfully , but great that you share the knowledge. Learnt more from the doghouse than any other forum.

Never had dogs in my life until a year ago, now have two

[SnakeyMcBadass]

Thanks nutty. He does shadow chase. And light chase. Chasing is his favourite thing to do ever, so I do tend to take a ball out with us. Might try restricting that. He's so highly strung I swear he quivers sometimes. A darling, though, and very loving. To people. He's a bit of a shit to other dogs. I have tried serenum on and off, but probably not for long enough. Can't switch exclusively to raw for now, freezer space is an issue. I do counter condition, and he's very bright so picks it up quickly. Just about anything stresses him, so our walks are repetitive and a bit dull tbh.

[needastrongone]

Where did all the stress come from Snakey?

[SnakeyMcBadass]

No idea. We suspect he was puppy farmed. He certainly wasn't socialised before 13 weeks. He has mild separation anxiety, fear aggression towards other dogs and gets hyper if anything much changes. The fear aggression is getting better, he can cope now with being left but doesn't like it and is learning to stay calm indoors. He's a sensitive chap and even a raised voice distresses him. I carry balls and cheese a lot. He seems to draw some confidence from the pup and has become more steady when out and about.

[needastrongone]

It must be quite wearing at times though? Especially now that you have a pup without issues. I am finding it interesting observing the difference in the character for my two.

[SnakeyMcBadass]

Wearing is....an understatement tbh. He is my first dog and it's been a baptism of fire. I will never have another spaniel, and I have been at breaking point with him on several occasions. After training classes and behaviourist advice, I've come to the conclusion that there is only so much I can do without making him the centre and focus of my life. Much as I love him, I'm afraid that isn't going to happen. We muddle on. The pup reassures me that I'm not too terrible as an owner and is mostly a delight. A mischievous bugger, but still a delight. And then I feel guilty that I secretly prefer walking the pup because I don't have to leap about like a ninja anticipating the next terrifying thing which might come at us